Yea but we were more effective with Doumbia being able to actually run, trap a soccer ball, get in behind defenses etc. About the only thing Dost is better at is heading the ball.
I have faith in Doumbia, its his chance now to shine. In fact, considering the way we've been playing (very pragmatic) it could be the right time to play Doumbia who runs and presses more than Dost.
He made a difference on Saturday in the Taca final. Also had a shot on goal yesterday. He's more mobile.
As much as I love Bas Dost, it might be a blessing in disguise having Doumbia up top for the Porto game. He’s not started very often so they will have to alter their game plan
Good point. In yesterday's game you could easily see that Sporting has become predictable. Vitoria G. had their game plan down pat.
Youre all forgetting this is JJ were talking about. Hopefully he does the right thing and starts Doumbia, but something tells me hes giving the spot to Montero.
Or the fact that Dost has been a pylon the last couple of weeks. He's not a creator. Unless the ball lands on his or feet, he's invisible. That's why Slimani was great, he hustled and could create something out of nothing. Without Gelson, we need speed. Doumbia brings speed. Wish Podence was healthy. But even then, as @SCP21 mentioned, it's going to be Montero for some ungodly reason.
Montero has offered nothing yet. It's funny - JJ says Wendel, Misic are not ready and in the case of Wendel "this is all Chinese to him" yet Ruben and Montero play right away. The fact we have so many games means we have to use the full depth of our squad otherwise injuries are gonna pile up
Exactly. Wendel needs to play. Inter tried getting him on loan before the window closed. We declined. I assume we will be using him. Montero does nothing but get pushed around all game.
This game really made me wonder what our transfer policy is. Do we even have one? I know the transfer window just closed, but truth is we've spent a record amount of money on players and a big reason we failed last season was that all of our signings (except Dost) were flops. Have the transfers this season been that much better? Have they contributed? Bruno Fernandes - probably our best signing, although he looks fatigued but he's been our best signing Marcos Acuna - started strong, got injured and his production went down Wendel - has not played yet Battaglia - alternated between good and bad Doumbia - hardly an option for the coach Piccini - alternated between good and bad Lumor - has not played Mattheus - loaned back out Misic - has not played Ristovski - rarely played but has been good when he's played Coentrao - we knew he had quality and he's been surprisingly fit Mathieu - same as Coentrao Ruben Ribeiro - had an assist in the first game but since then has been bad Salin - has barely played Andre Pinto - has barely played Montero - hasn't been very good so far We have a few good signings in Bruno, Coentrao and Mathieu and an OK signing in Acuna but the rest have either not been valid options or simply not been played. Which begs the question - why have such a large squad if you are going to run the same players into the ground? Could we not do some rotation in the League Cup and save our main players for the league games.
I disagree. The cups may realistic be the only attainable awards for this season. The league is too close and volatile . The squad has not really gelled to be as competitive as the direct rivals.
The transfer window should give teams a boost when adding talent, but it always seems to mess this club up.
Winter transfer window should be clear upgrades to the team. Ruben Ribeiro jumped into the team right away because he knows the league and was playing regularly, but is sort of "more of the same" Wendel was our biggest signing but seems to not be a preference for JJ. Misic even less. Montero was a last resort option - we were going to get Vietto who is miles better. Lumor was instantly burned by JJ.
Our club has again been transparent and detailedhow much we spent in the winter transfer window. Arrivals We spent a total of 15.85M euros in January. The majority was for Wendel, who cost 7.5M euros + 1.2M in commission fees (Fluminense keeps 10% of his rights) Josip Misic cost 2.75M euros + 500K in commission fees + Rijeka keeping 20% of any future profit Lumor was purchased from Portimonense for 2.5M for 50% of his rights + an option to buy 30% more for 1M euros Ruben Ribeiro cost 400K from Rio Ave. Fredy Montero came on a free transfer but still cost 1M in commissions. Departures Oriol Rosell to Orlando City for 500K euros + future 400K in objectives The rest are loans with options to buy: Iuri Medeiros loaned to Genoa for 1.5 seasons for 1M euros + obligatory transfer at the end of the loan period for 10M euros + we keep 20% of any future profit Jonathan Silva loaned to Roma until the end of the season for 500K euros + obligatory transfer at the end of the season for 5.7M euros + we keep 20% of his rights Alan Ruiz loaned to Colon in Argentina for 200K euros + optional transfer clause of 7M euros for 70% of his rights. Tobias Figueiredo loaned to Nottingham Forest for 200K euros + obligatory transfer for 2.3M euros (only if he completes objectives) + we keep 20% of his rights + we have a buy back clause. --- If we lucked out and sold everyone we have loaned out, we could make a total of 25M euros.
Miguel Cardoso (Rio Ave coach) confirmed yesterday after the game that Marcelo (CB) would join Sporting in the summer.
can't see him doing much better than Andre Pinto. Hopefully we get a real back up/replacement for Matthieu
Tobias Figueiredo has made 7 appearance for Nottingham Forest and is 4 games away from actioning a clause where they have to pay the 2.3M transfer fee for him. Currently he's on loan.